


The Morning After

by chibideath



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Ethical Dilemmas, F/M, Pillow Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 11:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12231597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibideath/pseuds/chibideath
Summary: A private moment between Raoul and Buri after spending the night together for the first time. Takes place just after the opening excerpt from Chapter 14 of Protector of the Small: Squire, when the Lord of Stone Mountain bursts into Keladry of Mindelan’s chambers, threatening and blaming her for his son’s death in the Chamber of the Ordeal.





	The Morning After

_"Kel." Raoul grasped her shoulder. "That was bile, pure and simple. You had nothing to do with Joren's fate, you do understand that?"_  
_Kel thought about it. "Yes sir," she said at last._  
_"Raoul, maybe you're not entirely right," said Buri, leaning on the door to his rooms. "You heard Lord Fartface. Joren was a golden boy before our Kel arrived. Maybe the Chamber just found the selves that Vincent and Joren revealed around Kel."_  
_"I thought only Alanna was lucky enough to be the tool of the gods," Raoul commented._  
_"Don't the gods say when they choose you?" Kel asked. "I've never heard from them."_  
_"Oh maybe I'm just giddy," Buri said with a shrug. "Who goes tonight?"_  
_"Garvey of Runnerspring," Kel replied. "One of Joren's cronies."_  
_"He'll have an audience tomorrow," said the K'mir, walking into Raoul's study. "And I am going back to bed." She glanced at Raoul. "Well?"_  
_He grinned, then looked at Kel. "Don't let them poison you," he told her. "Your coming was a fine thing – for the realm, for all those girls who come to watch you tilt, even for an old bachelor like me."_  
_He went into his rooms, and pulled the door shut after him.   [Squire, by Tamora Pierce, (c) 2001]  
_

  
  
"Well," Buri said. "That was a fun way to wake up."

Raoul grimaced at her. "You are the dark soul of understatement, Buri. You're telling me that didn't bother you at all?"

Buri shrugged. “I’m not a monster, Raoul. I’m not going to rejoice over the loss of a young life. But we all know exactly what kind of person Joren was. Allowing him to become a knight would have been a travesty. I don’t care much for the Chamber, but he would have done more harm for the realm than good.”

“Maybe,” Raoul said, looking out the window. Then he looked at Buri. “What do you mean, about the Chamber? You don’t approve of it?”

“It’s a relatively bloodless way to test warriors, I’ll give you that. But the way the Crown relies on the Chamber to test its vassals makes me shiver.”

Raoul gave her a puzzled look. “Why do you say that?”

Buri stared at him levelly. “You’re leaving the lives and fate of young men and women in the hands of an unknown and unknowable force. We know it can’t be influenced; fine, but what do we know about what drives it? What end is it really serving?”

Raoul frowned, thinking. “It’s an impartial judge – a way to test fitness for knighthood without different factions squabbling over who’s right.”

“Lord Fartface of Stone Mountain disagrees with you, as I imagine do the kinfolk of anyone else who died in that room.”

Raoul winced. “Fair point, but –”

“There’s no such thing as an impartial judge, Raoul. There’s only the rules they judge by, which we know almost nothing about in this case. But you trust it. The King trusts it. The whole realm trusts it. It’s scary.”

“It’s worked for us so far,” Raoul protested.

“Has it? It didn’t stop Ansel of Groten or any of his friends from earning their shields.”

Raoul waved a hand. “Groten is a blowhard and a bully, but he does no real evil, in the way we think of it. Besides, look at what the Chamber did to the Genlath boy.”

Buri nodded. “I’ll admit that had a dark kind of elegance to it. But overall? What about Alexander of Tirrigen? Or His Grace of Conté?”

Roaul’s stomach turned over. Alex, who had tried several times to kill Alanna, while none of them knew. And Roger…he wouldn’t even think about Roger.  Both had done terrible damage to the realm, but both had passed the Ordeal. He rubbed his face.

“Gods, Buri. Are you always this philosophical so early in the morning? I need a clear head to even start trying to think of answers to that.”

The K'mir grinned. "It's best you didn't accept Kel’s offer of a drink then. Besides, I can think of better ways to cheer up."

  
That got a smile out of him. Suddenly he was acutely aware of her, and that she wore only a blanket. He wasn't used to seeing Buri this way, not yet, but at the same time it wasn't unnatural. Just an extension of the person that she was; a more private part that he got to share. He walked forward and gathered her into his arms.

“You’re right. I’m sorry to be so gloomy, especially this morning.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, sliding her arms around his neck. “I’m quite happy to dump you on your silly head whenever you’re brooding.”  
  
Raoul grinned, wolfishly. "Is that a threat, K'mir?"

"No, it's a statement of fact."

"Then you best make good on it." And before she could utter another word, the big man had grabbed Buri around the knees and hoisted her up over his shoulder, so that she hung over his back like a captive. The K'mir yelped, curses and threats pouring from her mouth as she beat his back with her fists and kicked futilely. She couldn't think of a way to force him to put her down without hurting him; and privately, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

He dumped her on the bed, eyes flashing mischief. By then she was laughing. They kissed, warmly, and the world dissolved.  
                                                      

***

Some hours later they lay in bed, relaxed in a comfortable silence. Buri looked up and saw that Raoul was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

“Again?” Buri said, teasing. She kissed her way up his chest, and then whispered in his year. “We just broke you of thinking too hard, but there you go wandering into away into your head again. Makes a girl jealous.” She flicked out her tongue to catch his earlobe.

Raoul shuddered, half growling, and pulled her to him. He kissed her deeply and thoroughly, holding her tightly and caressing where his hands touched.

“It will take a lot more to distract me from the enjoyment of you, Buri” Raoul said, when they had both had enough. “But yes, I do admit to chasing stray thoughts. If it makes you feel better, it was you who put this one in my head.”

“Let’s have it then,” Buri said. She shifted up beside him and propped her head on her elbow. Raoul hesitated, searching for the words.  
  
“I was thinking about Alex, and Roger. About how the Chamber let them both pass into knighthood, despite they things they did later. You’re right. It _does_ make you wonder about what drives the Chamber. Maybe they had parts to play. Or maybe it was just that both of them were flexible enough and malleable enough to survive its trials, for good or ill. Maybe the Chamber doesn’t test your fitness for knighthood in Tortall, your dedication to the Code of Chivalry. Maybe it just tests your ability to survive.” He paused.

“And?” Buri prompted. “What’s so bad about that?”

Raoul sighed. “Because we treat it like it does. ‘If you survive the Ordeal of Knighthood, you will be a knight of the Realm,’” he said, quoting the ritual instructions given to every squire who entered the Chamber. “‘Sworn to protect those weaker than you, to obey your overlord, to live in a way that honors your kingdom and your gods.’” He stared ahead, seeing nothing. “But many don’t. We’ve seen it.”

Buri sighed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, because the whole practice still seems crazy to me, but if this is keeping you up at night, that won’t do. For either of us,” she added, smiling. Raoul gave her a small grin.

“So try this on for size,” Buri continued. “The Chamber let Duke Roger and Sir Alex pass their ordeals, and they did terrible things. The Chamber also let you and Alanna pass your ordeals, and you have done a great many _good_ things.” She poked a finger into his chest. “You, Sir Knight, are the balancing force. You, Alanna, Thayet, Kel, the king – even our young monarchs-to-be. You can see it in their faces. None of you believe that the world is yours for the taking and damn the consequences, or those who would be hurt. You care for the people under your command, and the people of realm, no matter who they are, as if the Code of Chivalry were branded on all your hearts. So maybe, just maybe, the Chamber does protect a kind of balance.”

Raoul frowned, thinking this over. “That seems a bit tipped. All the people you’ve just named have done – or are doing – their best to break with centuries of tradition. Educate commoners, eradicate slavery, give servants better rights. And they have all done it faster than any similar change in the previous hundred years. Conservatives like the Lord of Stone Mountain might be full of bile, but they’re also right. Tortall is going to the liberals. Where is the balance in that? They have no sway.”

  
“They do.” Buri's eyes hardened. “In Scanra, parts of Carthak, the Copper Isles, elsewhere. There are plenty of people the world over who live and rule the like world was made to serve the strong, the rich, the influential. And to them, it still is.” She looked at him. “So never fear, Raoul. Even if every knight who emerges from that creepy cursed room from now on is a shining bastion of chivalric virtue, the world has plenty of ugly for you to take on.”  She paused, watching Raoul think over her words.

“But what do I know?” She said, grinning. “I’m just a savage.”

Raoul laughed, and touched her cheek. "You're quite an advocate Buri."

  
“No, I'm just practical.” She grinned, and then touched the hand that held her cheek. Really, Raoul. We see enough real evil every day. Instead of wearing yourself away worrying about the things we can’t understand and most likely can’t change, let’s focus on what we do, and can.”

“For instance,” she continued, “I understand that you can significantly enhance both of our mornings by calling for a bath, and breakfast.”

Raoul laughed, shaking his head. He pulled her onto his chest, smiling. “You haven't a romantic bone in your body."

Buri grinned, evilly. "And yet here we are."

"Yes," he said, softly, leaning in to kiss her. "Here we are."

 

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely love the pairing of Raoul and Buri, and always felt that we didn’t get to see enough of it. The idea for this scene popped into my head after reading Squire for about the ninth time.


End file.
